France is governed from her streets

Submitted by John Lawrence (United States), Nov 11, 2005 at 15:58

The recent violence is an explosion that has been waiting to happen for years. The popular analysis in American newspapers that France "has failed" to integrate these people into the society completely ignores the root of the problem and the stark realities about Islam. Islamists do not want to be integrated into western society, and Islam is not a religion that will ever be willing or desirous of integrating itself into any pluralistic society; it is rather one that wants to remain aggressively apart from the society with the eventual goal of taking over that society. This is the case all over Europe today, and is a very sobering matter. America would do well to take note of the lessons to be learned, as Islam continues to grow in our own country. The only real effective means of combat against Islam, is the truth of the gospel, which is the power of God unto salvation. Sometimes we fail to realize the potent power of God's Word. For those called to preach the gospel to Muslims, France is a wide open field ... no need to go to the Middle East.

It is no accident that this violence in France erupted just at the end of the muslim month of Ramadan. For years, radical foreign mullahs have freely come into France (primarily from Saudi Arabia, by the way) during that time every year. They preach and teach hate and radical islam to the Muslim communities particularly in poorer government housing, and they especially target the youth. At the end of their stay (about 3 weeks), there have always been rising tensions, radicalization of the young people, etc. that until now have been marginally managed (usually by appeasement measures).

France is a very secular society that seeks to shed any kind of religious identity and to indoctrinate people accordingly ... it is sort of a drive to secularize young people in the education system, with the not so subtle goal that they will abandon any real religious/spiritual commitment. (Nominal religion is OK). They have largely been unable to accomplish that with the Muslim community in France. This secular world view is embodied in a statement I read today by French President Jacques Chirac, "that we are all children of the Republic". The French Republic is not only personified in his characterization, but takes the place of God and religion in many respects. A lengthy course in French history would be necessary to trace that philosophy to its origins in the days prior to the French Revolution.

Lastly, France also has a history of being governed from the streets ... when all else fails, taking to the streets has historically brought governments down (1789, 1793, 1830, 1848, 1871, 1968, 1995,) and forced change (usually by still more appeasement of a socialistic nature). Major concessions made by French governments to those involved in this type of violence (most recently the student-led revolt of 1968 and the strikes of 1995) have only encouraged succeeding generations and various elements in the society to continue to resort to this type of anti-social behavior to get their will done.

Liberal elements today, including the French press, in France are very vocal, for example, against the government's plan to deport foreigners who were involved in fostering all the violence, and they embolden the rebels with tacit support for their cause, even the violent aspect, which they justify on their behalf. (The French press does the same thing in justifying the Palestinian violence against Israel, so it becomes a dominant mentality in how one actually views everything that happens in the world). It is entirely comparable to the "blame American first" philosophy of liberals in our own country here. The victims are no longer those innocents who have their property burned and lives endangered, but rather the sympathy is for the criminals who have supposedly been 'so badly treated or neglected by society', that they are surely entitled to revolt in such manner. France needs prayer and many more missionaries...

I write this simply to make Christians more aware of the truth about the situation, as we certainly do not need to be victims of deception as we read press reports, with little appreciation of the underlying causes and the culture that have encouraged this type of reaction. Of course, the major problem remains that these are nations (France and Europe in general) that have deliberately and aggressively rejected the gospel, which alone through the Lord Jesus Christ, provides the only real solution, because the issues involved are ones of the heart, and without changed hearts, there can be no hope. The situation in France is ultimately a stark reminder not only of the hopelessness of lost individuals, but the hopelessness of an entire nation steeped in secular humanism that has entirely lost its bearings and has purposefully abandoned and rebelled against any idea of being accountable ...

John Lawrence

---

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".